In an encoding device disclosed in Patent Literature 1, an input signal is first divided by a normalization value to perform normalization. The normalization value is quantized, and a quantization index is generated. The normalized input signal is vector-quantized, and an index of a representative quantization vector is generated. The generated quantization index and the generated representative quantization vector are output to a decoding device. The decoding device decodes the quantization index and generates a normalization value. The index of the representative quantization vector is also decoded, and a sample sequence is generated. A sequence of the values obtained by multiplying each sample in the generated sample sequence by the normalization value serves as a decoded signal sample sequence.
On the other hand, as highly efficient vector quantization methods that generate little quantization noise, the spherical vector quantization (SVQ) method (refer to Non-Patent Literature 1, for example) and other vector quantization methods that quantize a plurality of input signals together within a predetermined number of quantization bits are widely used.
In the SVQ method, samples of input signals such as modified discrete cosine transform (MDCT) coefficients are normalized by using a quantized normalization value, and the normalized samples are quantized together in units of sub-bands. Here, the number of bits (quantization bits) are dynamically assigned to a code corresponding to each sub-band in accordance with perceptual importance of each sub-band. Assuming that the input signals are sparse, the SVQ method quantizes the main elements of the input signals preferentially. Therefore, input signals having sparse energy in the frequency domain (sparse signals), such as harmonics signals and vowels, can be quantized with high precision.
However, the SVQ method increases the frequency that a frequency component included in the input signals is not included in decoded signals decoded from the quantized values (the decoded signals lack the frequency component) when the samples are quantized for input signals having energy in many frequencies. When the decoded signals lack a frequency component, the presence or absence of the frequency component in the decoded signals varies discontinuously over time at a high frequency. Humans are sensitive to those temporally discontinuous variations in the presence or absence of a frequency component. If the input signals are acoustic signals, these variations may be perceived as noise which is known as musical noise. If the input signals are video signals, block noise, which is equivalent to musical noise in the acoustic signals, may occur. Musical noise and block noise will be referred to as “musical noise and the like” below.
An algebraic vector quantization (AVQ) method (refer to Non-Patent Literature 2, for example) is a vector quantization method in which the decoded signals lack a frequency component at a lower frequency than with the SVQ method. Like the SVQ method, the AVQ method assumes that the signals are sparse, but the AVQ method can provide quantized values with which more frequency components can be restored than with the SVQ method.
Patent Literature 1: Japanese Patent Application Laid Open No. 07-261800
Non-Patent Literature 1: Recommendation ITU-T G729.1, SERIES G: TRANSMISSION SYSTEMS AND MEDIA, DIGITAL SYSTEMS AND NETWORKS, Digital terminal equipments—Coding of analogue signals by methods other than PCM, G729-based embedded variable bit-rate coder: An 8-32 kbit/s scalable wideband coder bitstream interoperable with G.729.
Non-Patent Literature 2: Recommendation ITU-T G718, SERIES G: TRANSMISSION SYSTEMS AND MEDIA, DIGITAL SYSTEMS AND NETWORKS, Digital terminal equipments—Coding of voice and audio signals, Frame error robust narrow-band and wideband embedded variable bit-rate coding of speech and audio from 8-32 kbit/s.